Delaware River Access..... things are a changing!

I was on the Upper Little East last year at one of the locations that has a very long steep rocky goat path access. I had fished for several hours, was heading back to the parking area, and had just stepped on the trail when I heard a tremendous crashing sound and looked up to see a drift boat crashing down the narrow hill side trail with rocks and soil heading right at me. I dove to the side and the boat just missed me.

I picked myself back up, checked my equipment and saw a gude and his two clients carefully working their way down the trail. When the guide saw me he asked if I was on the trail when he released his boat and told him I was. His response was OOPs, and he and his clients jumped in the boat and headed down the river.

Last May was a major CF on the rivers so I am not surprised. It was ugly last year so I will not going back in the Spring. Summer and Fall are looking much better.


I was fishing the Little East to avoid the madness on the West, but there was no escape. The Upper Main Stem was just as bad or worse.

 
Inflatables only in the gorge
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Whatever, we already have found abandon boats with full fishing gear cuz it was too scary. Then there is the flipped hard bottom in the lower, spilling men and gear all across the river... and then the hard bottom in the gorge (don't ask me how Shane knows...)

The Lehigh is a blue collar river that will kick most peoples a$$, so it will never be the River Runs Through It dreamy fairy tail experience of the Delaware.

Like I said, keep that circus up there...

 
Smike

As I said, 75% or more of Delaware guys would make it down the Lehigh one time and never come back. Wrecking a boat or flipped is a real possibility on that river unless you pay attention and know what you are doing.
 
Any more info on this? I've searched and can't find anything.

Thanks in advance.
 
Well thanks Andy this isn't what i wanted to hear before the season. However, i would believe your source. i would be more surprised if this wasn't true unfortunately.
 
I wanted to provide a follow-up to my original post. Earlier today I had a conversation with my source. I questioned if the closing of these points was still going to happen. He confirmed that it was a done deal. The New York DEC will be posting and blocking off these areas. The reason for the closures was complaints to the DEC. the state was left with no option but to respond because these areas were not intended as boat ramps for hard boats. Some have speculated on the forum and others have speculated in town that the mayor may have had something to do with this. I can neither confirm nor deny those rumors.

I wanted to say thanks to those who parked where they felt like parking, argued with the property owners and ruin this for everyone.
 
Looks like I need to start shopping for that 5 HP motor for my boat.
 
I hope you are kidding. You'd end up with guides hating you, private boats wanting to kill you and wade fishermen hurling stuff at you.

Rough math equation based on knowing the crowds and home owners that don't want to hear a motor breaking the silence:

Drift boat + 5 hp outboard = 6 flat tires when you get back to the car.

BTW, I looked at one for the Susky. Jets aren't really available in less than 25 hp. A 6 hp Yamaha or Evinrude $1600 - $1800. Tohatsu is a little cheaper at $1400. 9.9 hp is around $2500. F that, I'll just row.
 
I spoke to my contact that lives up there and guided for many years and he said most of the old timers have private access and in some locations they pay for it. He also purchased a jet boat last year for fishing the Lower Main Stem and the Upper Susquehanna. Seems to be they way of the future since the number of guides about doubled a few years ago.
 
When crossbows became legal some years ago, I bought one and put my compound in the attic. Why? Because I hunt for meat. I got harassed by my friends and still do. No regrets on my end.

If people can legally use jetboats on the D, what's the big deal? Should they be worried about getting their balls busted or worse flat tires? Pretty pathetic. If they choose to fish that way, it's their choice and they shouldn't worry about others judging them.
 
I haven't fished there for almost 3 years now.
Guess when I finally do get back, the river that I've loved all these years, is gonna be a bit different
 
The big deal is using a jet boat will negatively affect every other fisherman they encounter.
 
Millsertime: That's a really bad analogy. Your crossbow does not spook every deer within a quarter mile. Nor does every hunter within shouting distance hear you use it.

How do you think an outboard or jet boat will affect the benthic layer? Siltation and erosion?

How do you think motor boats on the East will affect the guide's business?

Maybe the trout will acclimate to jetboats, but it will certainly negatively impact the fly fishing experience. If jetboats become at all common on the upper D, I'm out!
 
Fly-Swatter wrote:
If jetboats become at all common on the upper D, I'm out!
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That would likely be the case for a lot of Delaware lovers.

For what it's worth, I agree my analogy was not perfect and I agree with what you said about it being a bad fishing experience. I for one would never fish there again if it got that bad. I've only fished the D on weekdays and even then I feel it's crowded.

Perhaps another bad analogy...But when you hunt public property, you have to deal with idiots that put their tree stands 50 yards away from yours. It ticks you off but it comes with hunting public property.
 
I will be the first in line raising hell if jet boats become a thing. The one on the mainstem that ive seen once was absolutely obnoxious. Right up until they smashed it into a rock and apparently killed the drive. Half hour later they were "almost" back to the ramp after 3 grown men pulled the boat upriver along the shoreline. Morons.

I'll be the first to admit I have thought about adding a electronic trolling motor or getting a tiny 2.5 hp outboard to throw on my raft for the lower main, but not with the intent to travel up river. Long eddy in my raft would suck...bad. The jet boats are damn loud that I've heard. Fast up river traffic could be a bad accident waiting to happen. Jetboats belong on the massive rivers up in AK where the true lack of access is an issue and the rivers broad enough for the most part to accommodate them.

Are the any current laws or regulations preventing someone with a Jet boat going up river on the West or east? I would guess there is not?

Anyway - As Andy reiterated, this seems like its a done deal. Stilesville, hale, and corbet are going to be posted. No trailers. I've been told that other watercraft which can be launched without the need of a trailer (Pontoon, raft, canoe, etc) MAY still be good to go. Obviously this is all hearsay until an official release. If this is the case, I have a feeling were going to see a crap ton more inflatables on the river this season.

 
Last time I was up on the WB there was a guy whizzing around in his jet boat. He passed us while going back up stream a few times. He was by himself, so I assumed a local? Yeah, I did not like it much, but he has as much right to be there as me.


 
I agree that he does have every right to be there. NOT the right to disrupt everyone else on the damn river. On a busy day it is bad enough with the amount of un-motorized watercraft on the river. Including tubers. Or people in a canoe towing an inflatable cooler overflowing with beer with music BLASTING. (Saw that one last year. We heard them coming from several hundred yards away).

Theres a huge difference in the right to use public property... or abusing it while ruining everyone else's day.
 
Sorry but nobody gets to dictate what fun is to anybody else nor can anybody dictate what kind of fun is agreeable and permissible to the fun of others. The tired diatribes of one brand of fun ruining another brand of fun is an elitist and entitled mentality.

I happily share my water with everybody else out there regardless of how they choose to enjoy it. I fish amongst hundreds of tubers, kayakers, rowers, waders, motor boats, bait fishermen and whatever else you can think of. I don't think the fish give a damn since I catch fish in the throng of tubers. I'm sure it has some effect but not to the extent Typically portrayed. To be fair, sometimes the jet skies get tiresome but that's only in the summer and I choose to not go fishing on the weekends in the summertime. I can go out on a Monday and have the entire river to myself.

I go fishing to enjoy my free time. I do not go out looking to get angry and upset about how others enjoy their free time or how it may form of fun over theirs.

Can't we all get along.

 
Things have been changing all along. Like a drop in a bucket, bucket is full

Inky Moore and I discussed this back in 1996. The Delaware system, was in major trouble. Don't be fooled by trash, parking, improper people, lack of respect of property etc. etc.


MONEY, BIG MONEY, HUGE MONEY.

I am surprised it lasted 22 years and now people are noticing. BIG MONEY, does not want anyone, any boat, any float tube or fishermen on the Delaware unless you pay for it. Period!

If you think I am kidding around, wait another 10 years.

I am just wondering what BIG MONEY has in it sights this time around.

Think you can beat it? Well boy's the pockets have been lined. And don't think for one moment the pockets will give anything back.

Let this be a lesson served cold.

Now, to change this. If fishermen would take a pause and refuse to buy a license. I believe in Pa. fish and boat spends their money a year in advance. Spent before they have it.

So, let's say like before, Pa. looses 80,000 license sales. I would think you will be heard.

I am wondering if the Catskills are next. or perhaps the White River.


Many might say, who was Inky Moore. Let's just say he was more than Moore.
 
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